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Back in the Day: Melvyn Bragg's deeply affecting, first ever memoir

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This book engaged me right from the start and I guess Melvyn’s childhood was not very much different to a lot of kids growing up during those years. I think he was fortunate in being an only child in some ways because his parents were able to support his choices whereas they might not have been able to if there were a handful of other kids to care for. The lies were to do with my mother’s illegitimacy. I gradually realised my “grandmother” was not my grandmother, my “uncles” were not my uncles… I massively regret that I didn’t ask some of the older people, later on: what really happened? You’re frightened of hurting people involved, yet it might actually help them. I loved hearing about the wonderful landscape around Wigton and the days of innocence. Although this takes place before my birth, it reminds me of my own working class childhood. Of course this tends to be idealised over time. Extreme poverty existed, people weren’t as well nourished physically as they are today. However, I feel we were better nourished mentally without the pressures that youngsters have today from social media and societal expectation.

As a youngster Bragg’s interests were those of many a young lad. The games he played and the sports he took part in meant little to me. Being a member of different teams, he and they of course aimed to win. I personally am not a competitive person. For me, doing a sport, physical exercise or any other activity is done simply for the fun of doing it, not for coming in first.You used to help your parents in the pub. Can you still pull a decent pint? And how is your darts game? I really knew nothing about him before reading this and am reminded of the saying that “you can take someone out of a place but not the place it of them”. Whilst a home life living above a pub would not seem ideal for an elite student, this story proves that with the right support, you can achieve so much. Then, as a young teenager, Melvyn has a psychological breakdown. At this point, he does two things. He discovers the balance and stability that being out in nature brings. He discovers the enjoyment that can be found in books, in reading and studying and analyzing what he personally draws from a given author’s writing. It was at this point I began to relate to Melvyn Bragg! The whole community took pride and pleasure in the author’s achievements and he gives us some insight into the challenge of “thinking” himself into the role of elite scholar. We see how the old boy network was very much a part of acceptance into Oxford. A greater part of the marks were given to the interview process rather than the exam results, thereby ensuring that intake was very much skewed in favour of public school pupils who would have had much broader life experience as the sons and daughters of wealthy parents. The best thing he’s ever written . . . What a world he captures here. You can almost smell it’ Rachel Cooke, Observer

This was a slow burn to start with, but became totally engrossed in the teenage years of Melvyn Bragg’s life. I’d have got into local government or gone down to the factory and worked in its accounts department or been a junior clerk. This is the tale of a boy who lived in a pub and expected to leave school at fifteen yet won a scholarship to Oxford. Derailed by a severe breakdown when he was thirteen, he developed a passion for reading and study -- though that didn't stop him playing in a skiffle band or falling in love.Other sections, mostly near the end, I liked a lot too. Christmas and New Year’s town traditions are evocatively described. There is a bit about hounds that caught my attention too. I like very much the entire section about the teachers who helped him attain a higher education. There arises a conflict between the wishes of his parents and the possibility of his continuing his studies. My heart was pounding. I needed to know how this would be resolved. This was very suspenseful! Vividly evoking the post-war era, Bragg draws an indelible portrait of all that formed him: a community-spirited northern town, still steeped in the old ways; the Lake District landscapes that inspired him; and the many remarkable people in his close-knit world. I loved the story about falling in love with Sarah and their sexual explorations, fear of pregnancy which is so familiar to people of that generation. I really would have liked to read a bit more about how and why he and Sarah moved apart.

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